[greenseeker]

Just tought I would share some knowledge. Cleaned my diffuser today. Just poured straight bleach into the cup with an equal part of water (VERY STRONG) and within a half hour it was white and bright again. Problem was...bleach leached through the ceramic and into the glass chamber. After smashing my head against the wall I fugured it out...

In your kitchen sink fill a glass to the rim with clean, fresh water. Turn the diffuser upside down and hang on the glass with the stem in the water and the ceramic part on the outside of the glass. Important: the stem must stay in the water through this whole process. Run hot water from your faucet over the bottom of the ceramic cup and watch air bubbles get forced out into the cup of clean water as a result of air expanding in the chamber. Now immediately turn the faucet to cold and the unit will suck in clean water as the air in the chamber contracts. Repeat this many many times until you have enough water in the unit to swirl around and shake out through the stem. Repeat this whole process until what you shake out no longer smells like bleach. It is tedious.

For me I did it 5 times. For added measure I added some de-chlor to the cup of water and did it a 6th time. Then one final time with a new fresh glass of water. Wow seemed like overkill, but not really considering the time and effort I've put into my tank. The unit was clean, and absolutely no signs of bleach left. All in about an hour. Hope this helps someone!!!

And no there was no risk of breaking the unit from temp extremes. They just aren't "extreme" enough. And if they are you need to turn down the thermostat on your water heater...you're throwing money out the window!

 

[Optix]

couldnt you just shake the excess water/bleach solution out of the stem...add a little dechlorinator and call it a day? dechlorinators are pretty strong and most work instantly...unless youre dealing with like a 2.5 gallon...I cant see it being much of a problem

 

[bigstick120]

Or get a syringe and suck or push the water out.

 

[OverStocked]

All I do is fill itup with water, hook it up to the co2/airpump, flip it over and let the pressure force the water through. I then repeat, using dechlorinator in the water used to fill(a syringe is fastest way to fill) and again push water through using air pressure.

I then rinse off and let it go.

 

[guppygolucky]

you are talking about the ceramic diffuser for CO2 right? Been trying to figure out how to clean it since it's all dirty from algae.

 

[plantbrain]

This method works without any issue:
Simply leave the diffuse running with gas going through it......then add to bleach.......Tilex works better IME.......then after 5-10 minutes, pull it out, rinse and then add to a cup of water with dechlorinator for another 5-10 while running, then return to the tank.

Simple.

 

[greenseeker]

Haha well this was my first time cleaning it, on a 14 gal biocube...didn't want to take any chances. And it is DIY so leaving the gas running would be a little less effective I think. Or not, as long as pressure remains in the chamber under the ceramic, no bleach H2O can get in. Great ideas here, sound a lot less tedious than my method. Thanks!

 

[karatekid14]

Do you have too clean Inline diffusers, because I don't know how you could.

 

[sketch804]

Dont know if you do have to clean them also, I would imagine so, but the same method could work for those as well...

:angryfire crap I just put it in a cup with bleach water...well now I hooked it up with my co2 and am just letting it run...ugh..hope the bleach didnt have time to leach into the diffuser...well I am just going to soak it overnight in some strong dechlorinator and really hope for the best...or if it smells like bleach at all then I will try to do what the orignal post says and purge it with hot and cold water...ugh

 

[oscarsx]

I was going to do this today actually.. mine used to be clear... It's now superrrrr brown

 

[@[email protected]]

i bleach my diffuser biweekly. works wonderfully, and i just rinse and shake out the water.